FlashReport Weblog on California Politics

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association announced today that we
are launching a radio ad blitz to urge Californians to tell the
Sacramento politicians to reform government instead of raising
taxes.

In the radio spot, I warn the public that, “State spending is
out of control and Sacramento politicians want to send YOU the
bill!”

The spot highlights the fact that California’s State budget
relies on gimmicks and that instead of balancing the budget,
politicians are threatening cuts to public safety and our schools
unless the bureaucrats get more tax dollars.

California already has the highest State sales tax in the
nation, the second-highest gas tax, and the third-highest income
tax in the nation. Even with Prop. 13, taxes are way above the
national average.

HJTA calls upon Californians to stand together to demand
education reform, pension reform and spending reform now. The
organization is asking citizens to sign a petition to send a
message to the politicians in Sacramento that higher taxes are not
the answer. The timing is significant because lawmakers are
preparing to vote on next year’s spending plan.

A
recent editorial in the Sacramento Bee by former Assemblywoman
Jackie Goldberg’s concluded that AB 109 “prisoner realignment” has
worked – a clear demonstration of just how far out of touch Capital
politicians have become.

It’s a fairly typical response from the State: duck problems
until they reach catastrophic levels, then use gimmicks to hide
from the problem for a few more years, then shift the problem to
future generations or local government to solve. This is usually
followed by legislation on appropriate jail attire and creation of
a new regulatory bureaucracy on how to prepare hotdogs.

Guess what Jackie? Realignment not a solution – it’s
disgraceful. It’s no wonder the public holds the Legislature
in such low esteem.

First, let’s be honest about what AB 109 was: it was not “an
attempt to overhaul and redirect the prison system.” It was
an admissionthat the state failed in its
responsibility to manage prisons, and lacking the
political guts to make… Read More

Posted by Jon Fleischman at 2:37 pm on May 29, 2012 Comments Off on *Breaking* New IE Hits Nathan Fletcher On Serially Missing Votes In Legislature

Just in from FlashReport friend Jennifer Jacobs… Jacobs is
heading up an independent expenditure committee that has put up a
new television spot that is very critical of the decision by
Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher to miss a lot (most) of the votes up in
the legislature in order to campaign locally for Mayor of San
Diego. You can see the ad below…

Here’s a LIBERAL biased summary of CA vs. the other states on
taxes, from the California Budget Project – one of many
“nonpartisan” front groups the Democrats set up, trying to con us
into raising our taxes.

What is interesting is that even this slick left wing “think
tank” can’t hide the fact that we Californians pay taxes well above
the national average – even property taxes. It’s always nice to use
THEIR stats for OUR side. It’s also fun to add a few cogent
clarifications where necessary – I could have added MANY more! See
below.

How does California’s budget compare to other states? California
represents the ninth-largest economy in the world
[RIDER NOTE: Down from fifth largest a decade
earlier] and its 38 million residents give it the
largest population in the United States. California is not alone in
its fiscal challenges.

Episode VII – Education: In 1979, President
Jimmy Carter created the Federal Department of Education. He did it
to make the quality of education in this country better. This year,
that department will have an administrative budget of $69 billion.
That does not include the roughly $19 billion in federal dollars we
will spend on education entitlements like Pell Grants and student
loans.

The question is simple: Is American education better now than it
was in 1979? Has spending trillions of federal dollars over the
last 33 years led to America’s students consistently receiving a
superior level of education?

The answer is painfully obvious. NO! So, why are we still trying
to do what has failed for over 30 years expecting to achieve
positive results?!

Sorry. I’ll calm down now. I have included education in this
“Fix It” series on how to jump start two new decades of American
hegemony, growth and prosperity because, like infrastructure, a
strong education system is a prerequisite to growth and prosperity.
So then, what is the state of education in America? In order to
analyze our system, we have to break education into two… Read More

Posted by Barry Jantz at 6:13 am on May 29, 2012 Comments Off on San Diego County Registrar of Voters’ release of election “results” taken seriously by a few

A “Memorable” Weekend for Some
Candidates

byBarry Jantz

While readying its public system in advance of primary election
night, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters released test
election “results” on its website this past weekend for every race
in San Diego County, although in actuality no such real data can be
released until the polls close at 8:00 p.m. on June 5.

The Registar’s office confirmed this is standard procedure prior
to each election. The resulting test report clearly indicates
the information as being updated 07-04-76, a mock reference to the
famous 1776 date.

However, one candidate, David Secor, reacted to the bogus
results by churning out a press release, believing he was leading
incumbent Duncan Hunter for Congress in “early voting”
results. In turn,East County
Magazinepublished the release andsubsequently corrected the information.

Another candidate, Rudy Reyes, running against incumbent Dianne
Jacob for County Supervisor, said he was on the Registrar of Voters
website Friday… Read More

Please note that these are my
remarks as I prepared them for a recent speech.

I understand why people ask me to speak at events like
this. I’m an elected official in Woodland that some people
identify with the time I spent in Iraq with the Marine Corps.

Yet, these sorts of things are the hardest things that I do as
an elected official.

My worst days as Mayor involved the deaths of SSGT Jimmy
Arroyave and Highway Patrol Officer Andy Stevens. Giving
condolences to family members is not something I am good at…. But
all you can do is try.

I was at a Veterans event in Davis when Vince asked me to speak
today. Clearly Vince has a memory problem. Two years
ago when I was the Veteran’s Day speaker at the Court House I
completely lost my composure as I spoke in front of the family of
PFC Casillas.

PFC Casillas was a soldier from Arbuckle that was killed in
Afghanistan. A hero. Watching his family mourn his loss
was not the sort of thing I would wish on anyone. It got
me. It got all of those around them.

These things are hard for me. Very hard. I know they
are hard for many… Read More

While I’m not adding this electricity cost analysis to my dreary
“Breaking Bad: CA vs. the Other States” fact sheet (this analysis
is a hard item to condense into one sentence), it’s a situation my
California readers need to understand. Our state’s residential
electricity rates often are outrageous compared to the rest of the
nation. And under AB32, these rates are predicted to go up as much
as 30% or more — while the other states didn’t chose to commit such
“cap and trade” economic suicide.

BTW, our state’s industrial electricity rates are even higher
compared to other states — 59.8% higher than the national average
as of December, 2011.

For comparison purposes, I’m ranking homes with an average
monthly usage of 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) — a common utility
industry benchmark. I suspect that this usage level may be above
average for a California home (we… Read More